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The Passionate Ones

Samuel Hyland

created: Aug. 27, 2025, 4:02 a.m. | updated: Nov. 10, 2025, 10:48 a.m.

Midway through “BABY BABY,” a highlight of the excellent new Nourished by Time record, there is a sudden, descending synth swell, coupled with a delirious groan: Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby! This refrain, “baby, baby,” is the centerpiece of the song, and up to now, it has been mellow: a muttered coo, spoken like a groggy lover. This despair floods “BABY BABY,” and at this specific juncture, when he trades his mutter for a moan, it curdles into something agonizing. No longer tender, “baby, baby” becomes a cry for mercy: the tipping point between having everything and having it taken from you. Energy, love, and heart—human things—are incompatible with late-stage capitalism, a system where time is not nurtured, but ground, along with people, into profit.

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